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The Navy will examine 16,000 sailors to decide which 3,000 will be cut from its rosters Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead said Thursday during his San Diego visit.

“These 3,000 sailors are not sailors we don’t want in the Navy. These are sailors we cannot accommodate in the Navy,” Roughead said.

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The personnel changes are not connected to budget cuts but rather because the Navy has stagnated in 31 specialties.

“We have to be able to allow for the upward mobility in the Navy,” he said. “If we don’t have movement then we can’t build the Navy that we need for tomorrow.”

To help those sailors cut, the Navy will offer counseling, resume building workshops and other job services.

Despite the cuts, and other tough choices, San Diego’s role as a “Mega Base” will continue the admiral told the breakfast crowd at the University Club.

San Diego offers an entire community of Navy activities that give the U.S. the ability to go forward particularly in the Pacific but also the Middle East and Mediterranean said the admiral.

“In fact, as we look to the future and we make difficult choices, one can argue that the role of San Diego and the Navy that generates from San Diego is going to become more important, not less important,” Admiral Roughead said.